FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
External Audit Services are conducted by an external audit firm, which is responsible for planning, conducting, and issuing a formal audit opinion on a company’s financial statements. This involves establishing the audit scope, conducting substantive testing, evaluating risk, and signing the audit report in compliance with applicable regulatory and professional standards.
On the other hand, External Audit Support does not overtake the external auditor or give an audit opinion. Rather, it enhances your internal team’s process during the audit. Having external audit support, the offshore experts of Expertise Accelerated help to accomplish audit-ready activities such as account reconciliation, schedules, documentation, and compliance checks.
Having an extensive knowledge of the U.S. market and culture, EA provides you with highly engaged members who act as part of your team.
You have an accounting partner who is knowledgeable of your specific needs and offers a team that will blend comfortably into your work processes and deliver the best practice execution without any additional staffing.
Outsourced auditing support services facilitate the audit procedure and make it more expeditious with insignificant disturbances and increased confidence in end year reporting.
The companies are supposed to look at the external audit support services in case they:
- The audit process will begin to disrupt operations or overload internal resources. When your team cannot meet the bandwidth of the audits, external assistance can assume the duties of audit preparation, like reconciliations, schedules, and documentation preparation, to avoid the internal staff being distracted by these activities.
- Unstructured financial records and lost documentation are handled by organized cleanup, standardized workpapers, and readiness to comply with audit requirements, minimizing rework and follow-up by the auditor.
- External audit assistance is also useful to speed up the audit timelines and reduce postponements in the completion of the audit and alleviate the high stress normally associated with year-end close.
External Audit Support involves providing the necessary man-hours or expertise to prepare financial statements, organize records, and create financial schedules.
This allows external auditors to focus on their core procedures, making the audit process more efficient and helping to meet deadlines.
No, the external auditor still performs their primary role of reviewing and validating the financial records.
EA’s External Audit Support simply aids in preparing the records and organizing the necessary information, making the auditors’ job easier and more efficient.
External audit services assure that year-end financial statements are accurate, compliant, and reliable, giving stakeholders confidence in the reported results.
Specifically, they:
Plan and scope the audit by assessing risk areas and determining audit procedures aligned with regulatory and accounting standards.
Examine year-end balances and transactions, including revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities, and equity, to confirm accuracy and completeness.
Test internal controls to evaluate how effectively financial processes operate throughout the year.
Verify compliance with applicable accounting standards, regulatory requirements, and disclosure rules.
Identify issues early, such as misstatements or control gaps, allowing management time to address them before final reporting.
Issue an independent audit opinion that improves credibility with investors, lenders, and regulators.
Yes. Our CPAs personally oversee the onboarding, review, and stabilization of all new clients.
Once your accounting is running smoothly, a dedicated engagement manager continues managing the day-to-day communication while our CPAs remain available for escalation, strategic questions, and periodic reviews.
Our clients’ accounts are managed by senior accountants typically with Big Four experience (e.g., Deloitte, EY) and reviewed by U.S.-based leadership.
Our hybrid model gives you the benefit of:
- Specialized U.S industry skill sets
- Big Four–caliber talent
- A heavily supervised team
- 60%+ cost savings
Quality control is strict, and oversight happens at multiple levels.
External audit remains a major regulatory requirement for most organizations even today and consumes significant financial and human resources to conclude successfully.
Even though this process is crucial, many organizations find it painstaking for reasons such as interruptions to day-to-day operations, limited capacity to organize data for audit purposes, and an inability to commit additional human and financial resources to the auditing process, among others.
Such companies have found remote external audit support services as the solution, relieving them of all the challenges associated with this process.
Outsourcing external audit services can bring several benefits, including:
- Time and cost savings: External audit support helps streamline the preparation process, reducing the time and cost associated with audits.
- Access to a global talent pool: External professionals bring in-depth knowledge and skills to help prepare financial statements and schedules to meet audit requirements.
- Efficiency and accuracy: With external support, financial records are better organized, which enables a smoother, more effective audit process.